What A Weekend!

Well, that was quite a weekend for top sporting action. The big event was Super Bowl XLV and the game certainly lived up to the hype - so much so, in fact, that I stayed up to gone 3:00 a.m. to see the climax of the whole thing.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy, Uploaded on flickr.com by user "pkeleher" [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Congratulations must go to the Green Bay Packers for a tremendous 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But, as with most sports, the result doesn’t even begin to tell the story of the match, which ebbed and flowed throughout. The Packers led 21-3 at one stage early in the game, but a tremendous comeback from the Steelers got them to within 3 points of their opponents, and with the momentum on their side the Championship was definitely there for the taking. But, the Packers regrouped and found the determination to score again and deny the Steelers a third Super Bowl victory in six years. For me, it was an excellent contest and the destination of the Lombardi Trophy was up for grabs right until the dying seconds. Sport at its best.

Elsewhere, the Premiership did their best to try to outshine the showpiece occasion on the other side of the pond. A breathtaking weekend of action, with some amazing scorelines, produced the greatest total of goals on one day – 41 from the 8 games played on Saturday. A stunning comeback by Newcastle Utd saw them recover from 0-4 down after 26 minutes to grab an unlikely 4-4 draw in the last few minutes. That is the first time a team has recovered from a 4 goal deficit in the history of the Premiership. And that was by no means the only sensation of the day, with previously unbeaten Manchester Utd succumbing to bottom of the table Wolves and slipping to a 2-1 defeat.

There were also 8 goals at Everton, in a game that swung one way and then the other, and back again. 7 goals at Wigan, 5 at Stoke and 4 at Aston Villa all managed to push up that record total. The expected titanic clash of Chelsea and Liverpool on Sunday was very mild in comparison and Fernando Torres was kept extremely quiet by his ex-teammates before being substituted in the second half. A 1-0 victory for the visiting side has now realistically ended any hopes that Chelsea may have had of winning the title this year. In fact, they may well be looking over their shoulders at Tottenham and Liverpool themselves in the battle for a Champions League place.

As I mentioned on Saturday, this weekend was also the start of the Six Nations and there were victories for England, Ireland and France. Those latter two teams will meet each other at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on this coming Saturday, whilst England will play Italy, and Scotland will host Wales.

All in all, it was a very eventful and exciting sporting weekend. May there be many more like it ahead of us.

An Oval Ball Weekend

It is another landmark weekend in the sporting calendar, as the Six Nations kicks off on this side of the Atlantic and the Super Bowl takes place tomorrow on the other.

The first match of the Six Nations took place last night and saw England win at the Millennium Stadium for the first time since 2003. The 26-19 victory gave the favourites the start they needed in this year’s tournament, but was a major setback for their hosts. Wales have now gone 8 games without a win and will face a trip up to Scotland next week in a game they have to be looking to win to prevent their season from spiralling out of control already. Elsewhere this weekend, Ireland travel to Italy and France will be looking to start their campaign with a victory over the Scots. I don’t pretend to be a rugby union expert, but if recent past seasons are anything of a guide then expect a French or English victory lap come March 19th.

The major sporting occasion of the weekend is, of course, Super Bowl XLV taking place in Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas. Now, I know even less about the NFL than I do of rugby matters, but I will be sitting down tomorrow evening to watch the Green Bay Packers take on Pittsburgh Steelers – or the start of it at least. Due to the time difference the game is likely to go on to something like 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning, so I may have to bail out at half-time – or rather after watching the half-time show by the Black Eyed Peas. Even as a non-follower of the sport, the Super Bowl is still clearly a great occasion and a wonderful spectacle. I know that the English FA, not to mention UEFA and FIFA, could learn a thing or two about putting on a show from the NFL.

Back in the domain of the round ball the main interest may be the contest between Chelsea and Liverpool in the EPL – not, for once, because of any realistic title challenges but because the fixture computer has thrown up this match in the very same week that Fernando Torres moves from Merseyside to the Blues. I suspect things may get a little tasty at the Bridge tomorrow!

All of this, of course, pales in comparison to events down at the County Ground, Swindon where the Town are taking on Rochdale as I write these notes. Firmly ensconced in the bottom 4 at the start of the day, Swindon will be hoping to get something out of this game in an effort to revitalize what has been a very disappointing season to date. Elliot Benyon is making his Swindon debut after his deadline day signing from Torquay United, and goals are most certainly needed at the CG. Come on You Reds!

Whatever sport you follow, I hope you have a winning weekend!